Aaron Sorkin
| last = | credits = 10 | birthdate = June 9, 1961 | birthplace = New York City, New York, USA }}Aaron Sorkin, born June 9, 1961 in New York City, New York, USA, is an Academy and Emmy award winning screenwriter, producer, and playwright. He is the creator, head writer, show runner and an Executive Producer of The Newsroom on HBO. His other works include the films A Few Good Men, The American President, Charlie Wilson's War, The Social Network, and Moneyball. He also created the series Sports Night, The West Wing, and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Biography Early life He was born June 9, 1961 in New York City, New York, USA. He grew up in Scarsdale, a suburb of New York City. His father was an attorney and his mother was a schoolteacher. He attended Scardscale High School and was very involved in his High School Drama and Theatre Clubs. He attended Syracuse University and graduated with a bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater. He played Scrooge in the school's production of "A Christmas Carol" and the top pyramid acrobat in "Carnival". He intended to pursue a career in acting and sought work in New York. He sustained himself by working as a bartender between children's theatre work. It took him only a short time to realize that his true love, and his true talent, lay in writing. Writing career His first play, "Removing All Doubt", was not an immediate success. He sent a copy to his teacher Arthur Storh at his alma mater Syracuse University. Storch staged a production by drama students at the school in 1984. His second play, "Hidden in This Picture" was also initially unsuccessful. The play eventually debuted in 1988 at the West Bank Cafe Downstairs Theater Bar. He wrote a 1988 Rolling Stone Magazine article about the top acting schools in the U.S. One of the featured schools was the State University of New York at Purchase (S.U.N.Y. Purchase) where future The West Wing actress Janel Moloney happened to be attending at the time. Sorkin made his New York City stage debut in 1988 with his one-act play, "Hidden in This Picture". The show was seen by producer John McQuiggan, who commissioned him to make it a full-length play called "Making Movies." The idea for the plot of his third play "A Few Good Men" came from a conversation with his older sister Deborah. Deborah was a Navy Judge Advocate General lawyer sent to Guantanamo Bay on a case involving Marines accused of killing a fellow Marine. Deborah told Aaron of the case and he spent the next year and a half writing a play based on the premise. "A Few Good Men" had a tryout run at the University of Virginia before opening off-Broadway at the Music Box Theater in New York. Sorkin's afent sent the play to producer David Brown who spearheaded a film adaptation. The film was produce by director Rob Reiner's Castle Rock Entertainment. The film was released in 1992 and was a financial success, grossing over $140,000,000. The film starred Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore. Sorkin wrote the script for the film Malice in 1993. The film was a psychological thriller about a university dean dealing with both a series of on campus rapes and friction between his wife and an arrogant cardiothoracic surgeon. Bill Pullman played the dean, Nicole Kidman his wife and Alec Baldwin the surgeon. The film grossed $46,044,636 and cost an estimated $20,000,000 to produce. Personal life Aaron was once married to Julia Bingham divorcing in 2005. They had a daughter named Roxy in 2000. He has had drug addiction problems, including being sentenced to a drug-diversion program as a result of his 2001 arrest at a California airport for carrying marijuana, rock cocaine and hallucinogenic mushrooms. After attending rehab, there have been no further reports of drug usage since 2001. Credits Executive Producer Writer See also *Aaron Sorkin at IMDB *Aaron Sorkin at Wikipedia *[[W:C:studio60:Aaron Sorkin|Aaron Sorkin at the Studio 60 wiki, The Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip wiki]] *[[W:C:thewestwing:Aaron Sorkin|Aaron Sorkin at The West Wing wiki]] *[[W:C:sportsnight:Aaron Sorkin|Aaron Sorkin at the Sports Night wiki]] *Aaron Sorkin biography at Yahoo Movies Category:The Newsroom Category:Producers Category:Writers